Previously…
"Bloom is about to announce that they're accepting demos for partnerships to develop Way of the Ninja 2. Apparently, the original development team has moved on to other projects, and they only have a maintenance team currently working on it. When I go to Iwagakure next month to sign the deal for Delivery Dash with them, I plan on submitting our application to be one of the demos. I'm certain that Root will be doing the same," Sasuke announced to his other three business partners.
Currently….
"Our initial meeting with BLOOM Is tomorrow. Are you prepared?"
In the CEO's office, Danzo loomed over his desk, hands lightly clasped on the heavy mahogany wood. He stared intently at the middle-aged, dishwater blond woman sitting on the other side, who nodded in affirmation.
"We'll make contact with key personnel while we're at their office and understand what the attitudes of the major players are. We will tailor our demo appropriately." Nono adjusted her glasses as she studied her notes carefully.
"We must win this bid. You have an unlimited budget and the unreserved support of the legal department."
"Understood." She took a sheet of paper out of her organizer and laid it in front of Danzo, "According to my analysis, many of our usual competitors will not be bidding. However…"
Her hesitation made Danzo raise an eyebrow. "However?"
"ROOT may make a move."
"ROOT? Those welps with the ramen delivery game?" It took him a minute to figure out who she was talking about, but when he did, Danzo snorted. "They're out of their league."
"They seem to have the support of Uchiha Corp. We should take them seriously."
"Very well. Continue to monitor."
"Yes sir. Of course, we don't know who our competitors are for sure, but we should be able to confirm based on attendance at the banquet BLOOM is hosting tomorrow night. You will be attending, won't you, sir?"
"Of course!" Danzo emphasized. He was about to say something else, but they both stiffened when the door whispered open.
Sai stepped in, more papers in hand. He was slightly puzzled by the oddly tense atmosphere between the two of them that only seemed to dissipate when they saw him.
"I brought the personnel allocation budget you asked for." Sai offered the papers. "I will need to get some overtime authorized."
"Overtime? With all the new interns you have starting next month?"
"We still need to rely on core staff for much of the final analysis. Besides, we could risk losing our tax rebates if any of the students complain about being made to work overtime."
"Of course, of course," Danzo waved his hand. "Come in and join us; we're talking about your new project."
"I'm relying on your team this time around," Nono smiled amiably
Of course you are, especially if you keep letting the scope creep, Sai wanted to roll his eyes, but he maintained his genial smile, "I'm looking forward to our collaboration."
"No need for polite words between us." Danzo waved Sai into a chair. "I cannot overstate the importance of winning this RFP. The financial considerations are secondary; our main objective is using BLOOM's connections and recognition to gain a foothold in the computer gaming world."
"Yes sir."
The light in Danzo's eyes was almost fanatical, "We've long been limited to mobile games, and we don't have a recognizable franchise. Working with BLOOM and taking over the Way of the Ninja property is the entry we need. Once we can secure this deal, we can parlay this into other deals and fuel our expansion. We cannot fail." He thumped his fist on the desk
"Understood. Don't worry, Sir." Nono smiled confidently. "With our scope and expertise, there's no way we'll fail."
"All the assets of the firm are behind you. Use them. That includes this young genius," Danzo clapped Sai on his back. "I may be biased because I consider him my son, but he really is our strongest asset in this fight. He'll be joining us for the dinner reception. By the way, Sai, did you buy a suit for Bloom's dinner party? You'll need something fancier than your usual office wear."
"My girlfriend and I went shopping last weekend. I'm prepared."
"Excellent, excellent. Being in a relationship with a suitable young lady has really smartened you up. I'm glad you took my advice. You should introduce her to me someday."
"I will after the success of this project. That should be an acceptable time interval." Sai ignored the clutch in his stomach, just like he ignored his discomfort about this relationship. This is how things should be.
Danzo guffawed heartily, clapping him on the shoulder again . "That's the right attitude."
Sai nodded, relieved. Danzo wouldn't mislead me.
(ω;)
"I still can't believe it!" Kin exclaimed, fuming on her bed in the dorm. She was glued to her screen, frantically reading through the forums.
Startled, Ino looked at her quizzically. "What's up?"
"Ino-chan! Haven't you been paying attention? It's all over the damn forum!"
"What is?"
"Uchiha-senpai and that woman!" Kin's vehemence startled Ino, who still hadn't figured out what the problem was. Seeing that confusion written all over her face, Kin lost her patience and said, "You were at the game last weekend, remember? When Uchiha-senpai and that hussy walked off hand-in-hand? Disgusting" She flopped back on her bed, clearly put out by the whole situation.
"Oh yeah," Ino went back to packing her bags.
Her flat reaction only made Kin madder. "What di you mean 'oh yeah'?! Uchiha-senpai must be blind, choosing her over you. You're prettier — even the forums chose you over her! I can't believe it!"
"Cut it out," Ino didn't even bother looking up this time. "Their relationship is their business; don't drag me into it."
"But Ino-chan —"
"I said no," she slammed the lid on her suitcase with a sense of finality. " I'm pretty, rich, and fabulous — I don't beg for anybody's attention, and I definitely don't go for men who don't choose me. Uchiha-senpai made his choice. We may think it's the wrong one, but that's not my problem. I wish him all the best with Haruno-san."
"I'm not the only one who thinks that Uchiha-senpai is making a big mistake. Look, even this famous blogger —"
"Don't care," Ino said breezily, "If they're not Uchiha-senpai and they're not me, I don't care about their opinion on this topic. I gotta run, Kin. Seeya and have a great weekend. I'm heading home."
She didn't give Kin a chance to say anything else. By the time Kin opened her mouth to complain again, Ino had already shut the door behind her.
"Dammit Ino! Who do you think I'm doing this for?" Kin clicked her tongue in annoyance at the closed door, then jumped to her feet. "No, I can't leave it at this. This is for her own good!" She cracked her laptop open then switched her account, typing up a furious storm.
One has to wonder what a certain campus heartthrob sees in a certain scholarship student Perhaps its her hair colour, because that's the only thing that's at all remarkable about her. Or maybe it's her… personality, if you know what I mean.
( Ò﹏Ó)
"I'm starting to understand how a goldfish feels in a fishbowl," Sakura muttered into her breakfast. The whispers were deafening.
"Ignore them," Sasuke didn't look bothered at all. They had the whole table to themselves, and no one was sitting in the seats behind them, either. The whole arrangement made Sakura feel vulnerable and exposed. She couldn't shake the feeling that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at them.
"Why are you still here, anyways," Sakura asked, unreasonably annoyed at his nonchalence. "Aren't you supposed to be on a plane soon?"
"… For the food," Sasuke looked at her like that was a silly question to ask. Eye candy is a kind of food.
"What are you going to do when you graduate, then?"
"… Mooch off you."
"What about when I graduate?" even as Sakura said this, she regretted it a little. She was only finishing up her second year now. She still had another two to go. Who knows how long this thing between her and Uchiha-senpai would last anyways… I still can't believe this past week, nevermind the next two years.
"I'll bring you with me," Sasuke's response was very quiet.
Sakura was still contemplating her gross misstep earlier; so engrossed, she missed what Sasuke said. "What?
"…I'll mooch off my brother." Sasuke said at a more normal volume.
The high-achieving side of her brain, the one that subconsciously created a study schedule and ran through flashcards in her dreams, came to a screeching halt at the reminder. Hesitantly, she asked, "Speaking of your brother… Does he know about… us?"
Sasuke found it cute that she had such a hard time using terms that would imply that they were in a formal relationship. "Hn."
Sakura wanted to smack him, "What do you mean, 'Hn'?"
Her eyes were a fiery green as she glared at him across the table, arms crossed. Sasuke supposed he should be worried about his own proclivities given how much he liked flustering her. He especially liked being able to fluster her up close and in person. She does the most adorable thing with her mouth when she's annoyed.
Sakura was getting better at reading his deadpan face. She caught the way his eyebrows relaxed just a little and his eyes sparkled a bit wickedly. Embarrassed, Sakura blushed and looked away.
"Why are you so worried?" Sasuke looked back down at his breakfast, acting like nothing happened. His miso soup and salmon were already gone, but he still slowly and elegantly picked at his rice with his pickled vegetables and seaweed, looking all the world like he didn't have a flight to catch later in the morning.
Sakura refocused on her own breakfast as she explained, "We're handing in our final papers today, and Itachi-sensei will probably be there. I'm worried about how I should interact with him."
"Just pretend you don't know him."
"I can't do that! What if he finds out about us later and thinks I'm super rude and I make a bad impression?"
"You won't."
"But what if I do? I can't just say 'Hi, I'm your brother's girlfriend, please give me a good mark.'"
Sasuke blinked, then a tiny smirk curled the corner of his lips, "Sure you can."
"No way!"
"You can. If you say that, he won't remember anything after 'girlfriend'."
(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞(‿ )
Sakura obviously hadn't dropped the proverbial "girlfriend" grenade on Itachi in class, because he arrived back at his gate in a good mood. He was reading the paper in his hand, nodding along in approval. With his papers tucked safely under his arm, Itachi looked exactly as he was - an academic at work.
"Sooooo?" The word was drawn out and leisurely, floating over on bubbles of beer that Tsunade had already started drinking. Itachi turned to see the normally imposing Dean of the Computer Science school basking on her porch with her face turned up to the sun, a suspicious flush already on her cheeks. It must be her day off, with exams winding down.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Itachi asked politely
"What did you think of her-," Tsunade interrupted herself with a hiccup. "She's cute, inni'she?"
"She's very intelligent," Itachi waved the paper in his hand, "Her final essay is very well written."
"But they look good together, don't they?"
Itachi thought back to a very memorable class where his little brother had shown up and sat next to the girl. He'd thought they looked good at the time, as awkward as they'd been, although he didn't think they were dating then. He nodded in agreement to Tsunade.
"Hah! Told you. Friend my ass. Didn't need no forum post to tell that. That boy's never brought a girl home, has he? At least not voluntarily," Tsunade muttered to herself as she got up to get herself another drink.
Itachi only waved in farewell as he went into his own house and put the other papers down on the entryway table. As he took his shoes off, Itachi remembered other times, soon after they'd moved here and Sasuke got settled at the new high school, when his brother had come home and demanded they put a garbage bin under the entryway table so he could throw away all the "random junk" that his admirers had stuffed into his bag during the day.
Oh how the tables had turned, Itachi chuckled to himself. That prickly young man, who'd indiscriminately tossed love letters into the garbage, now had an actual girlfriend. He couldn't wait to be properly introduced to her.
AN: Me neither, Itachi. Me neither ^_^
An addendum for my FFN readers if you still exist - what the heck is up with the AI Spam nonsense that's taken over this hellsite? I had more junk than I did actual readership. I you haven't already, please find me on AO3 - I'm this close to quitting this garbage dump.
I'm so proud of myself - it hasn't been a year since my last update! Hah! Take that! It's a shorter chapter today; this is what I call a putting in place chapter - a little bit of world building here, a lot of set up there, and a smidge of foreshadowing (come back when I finish the fic so you can tell what's what, lol). And of course, a bit from our favourite dorks, hehe. Someone requested a character list on my last chapter - I will, maybe, but not if it's going to be a spoiler ;) As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and bookmarks from book fairs always make my day. Thanks for stopping by~